


Rooftop Rendezvous

by skippingreelsofrhyme



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-24
Updated: 2015-11-29
Packaged: 2018-05-03 03:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5274290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skippingreelsofrhyme/pseuds/skippingreelsofrhyme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette is perplexed by the presence of her partner Chat Noir... in her civilian life. Maybe getting to know him as Marinette could help her understand him better as Ladybug.<br/>-(Marichat fic)<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Saturday

**Author's Note:**

> I have no clue how long this is gonna be! Sorry there's no shipping in this chapter, but soon, friends, soon.

—Today—

[2:11 PM] alybobaly: mari get ur ass over here!!!!

[2:14 PM] marilamb: sorry alya! i’m trying to get stuff done

[2:15 PM] alybobaly: mari

[2:17 PM] alybobaly: MARI

[2:17 PM] marilamb: god ok

[2:19 PM] alybobaly: ur gonna love it im telling u

[2:20 PM] marilamb: I believe you!

[2:20 PM] alybobaly: and yet where r u?????

[2:21 PM] marilamb: omw

 

                Marinette sighed and put her phone back in her pocket. It was really a nice day out—all she had really planned to do today was organize her designs (why loose paper, why) and maybe get a head start on her homework due Monday. Either that or goof off and like, watch Netflix. Probably that. So she shouldn’t be so, what, bitter? about going to visit Alya and see… whatever it was she wanted her to see. With Alya, it could be anything. Marinette snickered to herself before her face fell back into a neutral gloomy expression. She felt a tiny wiggling in her purse and opened it, revealing the head of her cute red kwami.

                “Marinette, why do you look so down?” Tikki asked empathetically.

                “Oh, I don’t know,” said Marinette, looking forward again. “It’s probably just being a teenager and feeling bad for no reason.”

                “Don’t play down your feelings, Marinette! They are an important part of you and the most important part of Ladybug!”

                “Thanks Tikki,” Marinette smiled down at her purse. “I don’t know how you could be so kind and understanding even after all these years of training new Ladybugs. Our problems must seem so trivial!”

                “Oh they’re not,” Tikki said, very seriously. “Even if you weren’t Ladybug, your problems are still very important. Our job is to try and make people’s lives better, whether it’s by saving the city or doing something small that will make someone smile. And that’s why you were chosen, you know—because of your capacity to be kind.”

                Marinette put her hand into her purse and gently pet Tikki’s head with one finger before closing the snap and crossing the street to Alya’s building. As she pressed the doorbell to the correct apartment, she brushed away the tears that had formed in her eyes. Tikki was honestly incredible. If one creature could live forever, Marinette was glad it was her kwami.

                “H—ey Mar—ette, c—ome –p,” the receiver crackled as the door clicked open. Marinette stepped into the air-conditioned lobby and pressed the up button on the elevator.

                “Hey Marinette!” Nino called, walking out of the bathroom, someone else closing the door behind him.

                “Oh, hey Nino! Are you here because of Alya too?”

                “Well, I mean yeah, we’re doing a graphic design project together for that history thing?”

                “Oh, cool. She wouldn’t tell me why I had to come over. She made it sound like the world would end if I didn’t see it _right now_ ,” Marinette giggled and shrugged.

                “Jeez she always makes everything so dramatic,” Nino said, laughing. “It’s pretty cool, though!”

                “Man, I’ll bet. She’s so good at computer… Stuff.”

                “Hey, me too!” They both laughed as the elevator dinged. Marinette stepped inside and pressed the button, but Nino just reached over and held the door open. Marinette raised an eyebrow, but before she could ask, Adrien came bounding out of the bathroom shaking his hands dry.

                “Thanks!” he said to his friend, before turning to look down at Marinette. “Hi Marinette.”

                “Hey,” Marinette answered, her voice giving out halfway through the one-syllable word as the elevator doors closed. Throughout the whole two and a half minute ride, she didn’t say another word as Nino and Adrien chatted about their physics homework. Marinette should have been listening—she needed help in physics—but she was too busy analyzing her and Adrien’s three second conversation. When the elevator hit the sixth floor, the two boys stepped out followed by Marinette and knocked on door 603. There were a few crashing sounds and some manic laughter before Alya flung open the door.

                “Hi everybody! Adrien, I didn’t know you were coming, come on in,” Alya hollered, ushering the trio of her classmates into her room as children dashed across the living room.

                “Have fun, kids!” Alya’s mom called from the kitchen. Marinette caught her eye and waved. Alya’s mom was super sweet and did a great job of caring for all her kids. She also looked so much like her eldest daughter it was scary. Thank goodness they had different hairstyles now, because there were times when Marinette mistook one for the other from the back.

                “Whew!” Alya exhaled, closing the door of her room and resting her back on it. “Sorry ‘bout the ruckus. There’s some playdate going on. I honestly have no idea who is in the apartment right now.”

                “It’s ok, Alya. Thanks for having us over,” said Adrien politely. He set down his backpack and took out his physics notebook and sat down on the bed, obviously having been dragged along without knowing why. Marinette felt like she should give him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, trying to do homework with all the shenanigans going on. That is, if it wouldn’t give her a heart attack. However, he did seem to be quite happy; smiling and even humming a little bit. How odd—Marinette could never concentrate in all this noise. Fortunately, she didn’t have to.

                “Okay Mari, you’re gonna flip, you’re gonna love it, I know it,” chattered Alya.

                “Oh, your graphic design project?” said Marinette.

                “WHAT!?” yelled Alya.

                “Nino told me you were working on the history thing together!”

                “NINO!” Alya turned on him, who had already begun backing away, his arms up in defense. “IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A SURPRISE!”

                “I didn’t know!” he defended.

                “He didn’t tell me what it was about, though!” Marinette butted in, earning a mouthed “thank you” from Nino.

                “Oh, well okay, I guess that’s not as bad,” Alya said, shooting one last glare at Nino, still in defensive mode, before opening her computer. Marinette gave Nino a thumbs-up, hearing a giggle from behind her. She wheeled around to look at Adrien, sitting on the bed, still slightly smiling as he continued working on his physics homework. Did… did he laugh at her? Or rather with her? Before she could dwell too much on it, Alya called her over to see their project. Nino was already over there, seemingly forgiven, as he pointed out ways to make it better. Marinette peered over her best friend’s shoulder to see a rather well laid-out flyer-type presentation on

                “Ladybug?” Marinette said out loud. It was images from the Egyptian exhibition at the Louvre where the Pharaoh had attacked.

                “Yup! I used the information I wheedled out of the Pharaoh to put together a preeetty good article.”

                “It’s true, she wrote a really good piece,” added Nino, earning him a friendly punch and a “aw shucks” from Alya.

                “What’s this about Ladybug’s fight with the Pharaoh?” Adrien said, coming up behind Marinette. Suddenly she couldn’t move. Or breathe. She could feel Adrien’s breath just barely grazing her shoulder and she could feel his body heat warming her side. Marinette was certain her face was as red as her super suit.

                “Well, you may not be aware, I’m not sure how updated you are on my Ladyblog—” Alya began.

                “Very,” said Adrien, leaning over her shoulder to look at the computer. Marinette could swear he’d be able to hear her heart with how fast it was beating. Did he like Ladybug?

                “Looks like you’ve got good taste then! So you should know that due to my excellent reporting skills, I discovered that Ladybug, or someone like her, existed way back in the time of Ancient Egypt!”

                “It was super cool that she got all that info so I suggested we utilize it for our project,” added Nino.

                “Hey, is that Chat Noir?” Adrien said, pointing at one of the pictures, showing a man with a staff. Marinette may have died and gone to heaven just because his sleeve brushed her shoulder but no big deal.

                “Oh him, yeah, well, we don’t really know. The Pharaoh didn’t say anything about him.”

                “I figured we should put him in, just to round out the project. You know, so it wasn’t _just_ about Ladybug?” Nino said.

                “And _what’s_ wrong with that?” Alya glared at him. “I’ll have you know that Ladybug is the smartest, coolest, amazingest—”

                “Strongest,” Adrien added.

                “—bestest superhero in the whole entire world!” Alya finished.

                “Alright, alright!” Nino said, giggling, his hands up. “I’ll admit, she’s pretty bomb. She’s saved _my_ ass once or twice.”

                “W-well what about Chat Noir?” Marinette interjected. Her three classmates turned to look at her. Alya and Nino seemed as if they’d forgotten she was there, she hadn’t spoken for so long. Adrien had an odd expression on his face.

                “What about him?” repeated Adrien.

                “Well h-he’s pretty st-strong, isn’t he?” Marinette stammered. Adrien scrunched up his nose. What kind of a nose scrunch-up was that? Positive or negative? “Ladybug couldn’t do what she does without him,” she bravely continued.

                “Hmm, could I have mistaken you? Are you more of a _Chat_ fan?” Alya said suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows. Marinette turned pink.

                “Hey lay off her, Chat is pretty cool,” Nino said, jumping to Marinette’s defense, and putting a friendly hand on her shoulder. “Friends helping friends,” he whispered under his breath as Alya started to go on about Ladybug and all her glory to her smiling friends.

                After a while of helping Alya and Nino proofread and put the final touches on their project while Adrien worked on physics, Alya’s mother called her to help set the table for dinner. Her friends excused themselves and Alya, with a sibling hanging off one leg saw them to the door, promising to see them all on Monday. The three waved and headed towards the elevator.

                “How are you getting home, Marinette?” Adrien asked. Marinette was startled out of her reverie.

                “Oh, I uh. Um. Nino, how are you getting home?”

                “Oh I just live a couple blocks away. I guess it’s getting dark, huh?”

                “Yeah it is,” responded Adrien. He turned to Marinette. “Why don’t you let me give you a ride home? I called the car a little while ago; it should be outside.”

                “Oh!” Marinette felt her cheeks get hot. “Um, you know I don’t live t-too far. Away. Far away. I don’t.” She would have slapped herself if she could. The boys didn’t seem convinced. “I walked here,” she clarified.

                “It’s dark now,” Adrien reiterated.

                “Yeah, why don’t you take him up, Marinette. He doesn’t mind,” Nino said, resting his arm on Adrien’s shoulder. The elevator dinged on the ground floor and the teens spilled out. Nino dashed out the door bidding a hasty goodbye while muttering about the time and left Marinette alone with the boy she was crushing on harder than Romeo on Juliet.


	2. Saturday Night

                “Sorry, the driver hit traffic,” Adrien—dreamboy wonder—apologized to his flustered classmate Marinette, as he typed into his phone. She wondered who was messaging him if the driver was on his way. Adrien looked up from his phone. “My father’s assistant is the one contacting me, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

                “Oh! Uh, yes!” Marinette stammered, as he hit her curiosity spot-on. God, whenever she spoke to him, she couldn’t help but to stutter and blush. It’s just that… the way he looked up with his head still turned down made his soft bangs fall over his eyes so looking at him was like looking through the branches of a gently swaying golden willow tree. She was staring at him. Oh my god she was so staring at him? She looked away.

                “—Marinette?” Adrien asked. Marinette looked up from the floor, no clue how long she’d been staring at it. “The car’s here.”

                “Okay!” said Marinette, a little too loud. She looked back down at her feet as she followed him out of the building. When they came to the car, Adrien opened the door for her, and she climbed in, looking around in awe at the sleek black interior. Adrien opened the street-side door and climbed in and looked at her pointedly. Marinette, for once, caught on and hurriedly gave the driver her address, and they pulled away from the curb. The ride was mostly in silence; initially, Adrien tried to make conversation, but after a number of halting, too-loud, stuttering answers from Marinette he gave up. The rest of the ride he spent with his hand propping up his head as he looked out of the window. Marinette simply pressed her hands between her knees and stared down at her lap as she waited for the Ride of Hell to be over. After an eternity of suffering, the driver pulled over next to the corner bakery she lived above.

                “I’ll see you on Monday, Marinette,” said Adrien, looking almost hopeful.

                “B-bye,” replied Marinette, and Adrien’s smile kinda fell and Marinette’s heart kinda broke right then and there. She scurried to the door, fishing for her keys as the big black car drove off into the night. Tikki popped her head out of Marinette’s purse with a concerned expression.

                “Marinette…” she began. Marinette pushed through the door and grabbed a couple cookies off the counter.

                “HiMomandDadI’mhomeI’mgoingtomyroomI’mnothungrygoodnight.” She yelled and dashed up the stairs and placed Tikki and the cookies on her desk before getting her shower stuff.

                “Marinette, wait. I think you should talk about what happened,” said the kind-hearted kwami.

                “I’m taking a shower, Tikki. Enjoy your cookies,” said Marinette before heading off to the bathroom. She turned on the water not too hot and not too cold before hopping in the shower.

                She could NOT believe she had acted so stupidly in front of the absolute cutest boy in school, with whom she’d had a crush on for freaking AGES and all she could do was STUTTER AND BLUSH AND COULDN’T EVEN TALK TO HIM! Needless to say she was absolutely mortified and had a rather long cry in the shower.

                After a while, she came out of the shower, toweling her hair. She found Tikki asleep on a cookie, with a tiny note written on a scrap of paper saying, “ _If you need to talk, I’m here_.” Her kindness made Marinette tear up again. As she put on her pajamas she contemplated Tikki’s earlier words, calling Marinette kind. How could she be when all she did was mess things up with the boy she likes? If she was really trying to be a good person then she’d just stop talking to him all together and stop bothering him. She grabbed a blanket and headed up to the roof; she could really use a few minutes of the chilly night air to cool her down. Up on the roof, she could just look at the twinkling lights of the city and forget everything, lost in the hum and buzz of the capital city. As she stepped up the few stairs and made to open the door, she heard what sounded like somebody mumbling. She half-considered going back for Tikki—what if it was an akuma?—but she quietly opened the door anyway to see Chat Noir pacing on her roof, mumbling to himself.

                “But that would just be ridiculous… I mean, it’s not like I… Well I mean she would have _told_ me if… But what if I did something wrong?... But then again…”

                “Pardon me, Monsieur Noir,” said Marinette, startling the masked hero out of his reverie.

                “P-Princess!” he cried. He dashed up to her and bowed to kiss her hand. It had to have been quite a sight: this sleek black-clothed hero romancing a wet-haired girl in pajamas with a blanket around her shoulders, just barely dragging on the ground.

                “To what do I owe this pleasure?” Marinette questioned, lifting her hand out of his grasp, leaving Chat with a lost expression. He quickly gained composure.

                “Oh, well I happened to be passing by—”

                “Doing what?”

                “I was in the neighborhood, and I thought perhaps a lovely lady like yourself might be in need of some company on this lovely Saturday night,” Chat finished with a flourish. Marinette sat down on the outdoor sofa, which, aside from a broken folding chair and a coffee table, was the only furniture outside.

                “I mean, I guess you can stay for a while,” Marinette said, gesturing to her side. Chat plopped down. “If you really don’t have anywhere else to go.”

                “No… I really don’t,” said Chat solemnly, looking off into the distance. Marinette looked at him. This was the first time she’d ever seen her partner not chipper, cheery, and flirt-tastic.

                “Chat, are… are you okay?” Marinette asked. He took a deep breath in, seeming to contemplate what he should say.

                “Well, ma Chérie, such an upstanding and beautiful girl like yourself probably has the world laid out before her, and no problems whatsoever—”

                “Chat what are you talking about?”

                “But do you ever… I don’t know… Act differently? Around different people?” Chat asked, his ears turned back sheepishly. Marinette sighed and looked at her toes peeking out from the edge of her blanket.

                “I think I wrote the book on that,” she whispered and gave a half-hearted laugh.

                “That makes sense,” he said.

                “What about it?”

                “Oh, just, I do that too,” responded Chat.

                “You too?” Marinette asked and Chat nodded. She was surprised to learn her partner wasn’t always so… well, Chat, to put it concisely. But then again, he wasn’t always Chat. He had his secret identity, just like she did. And boy she was not joking when she said she wrote the book on acting differently in front of different people—or rather, _as_ different people. She gave a big sigh.

                “Rough day, I guess,” said Chat.

                “Oh no,” said Marinette. “It wasn’t really. But the ending… could’ve used a little work.”

                “I know that feeling,” her partner sighed. He shivered and knocked his knees together, rubbing his thighs.

                “Oh no, Chat, I’m sorry, you’re cold!” Marinette exclaimed. Chat waved her off.

                “It’s nothing a brave cat can’t handle, Princess,” he said, but it wasn’t very convincing, as his teeth were chattering slightly.

                “Oh just come here, you dumb kitty,” she said, holding her blanket up for him to snuggle under. He scooted over to her and brought his knees up to his chin and took the blanket around his shoulders; it just barely covered the both of them, scooched as close together as possible, attached hip to shoulder. They both seemed to realize their proximity at the same time as they made eye contact, blushed, and looked away.

                “I’m sorry, Princess, this isn’t very chivalrous of me,” Chat said, trying to ease himself away.

                “Chat, really, it’s okay,” Marinette said, looking him in the eye. He swallowed and nodded, staying where he was. They passed what seemed like a long while in silent stillness under the blanket together. Even though he’d felt cold at first, Marinette found that Chat was like a furnace, he was so warm. She became very aware of every place they were touching; it felt so warm it could have been on fire in those few places of contact: knee, hip, shoulder, arm. And every time either of them shifted, a different place made contact, which brought in a whole new element of sensation. Marinette felt the need to make conversation, but maybe… just maybe Chat had come to her for a moment of peace in what she was sure was a crazy life. So she didn’t say anything.

                _BEEPBEEPBEEP_

                “What was that?” Marinette feigned surprise, which wasn’t too unrealistic, as she was rather startled out of her thoughts.

                “Ah, my dear, that is the sign that I can no longer stay for long as Chat Noir. I must return to anonymity,” Chat pontificated, his chest puffed out, which was rather negated by the fluffy blanket around his shoulders. Realizing this, he somewhat collapsed in on himself for a moment, then rose. He knelt and took Marinette’s hand and very gently, very tenderly touched his lips to it. It was a menial display of affection that she usually would have disregarded (and often did) but it somehow struck her in this very moment, and a small blush rose to her cheeks as Chat looked up into her eyes.

                “Chat…” Marinette began.

                “Princess,” he said in return.

                “I… I should hope to see you again soon,” she said evenly. Chat looked slightly taken aback, but smiled a wide, sharp-toothed smile.

                “Au revoir,” he whispered and kissed her hand once more.

                “Au revoir,” she whispered back, and with that, he activated his staff and bounded across the rooftops. Marinette, having rose to watch him leave, looked over the city where her partner had disappeared, gathering the blanket to her. After a few moments with no sign of his lithe form bouncing from one rooftop to another, she turned to go inside. She climbed into her bed with the blanket, which had a different smell than normal, which somewhere in her sleepy mind she registered as Chat. She curled up, her hair still somewhat damp, and breathed in the scent of the city and her partner. She was so tired, she had no time to contemplate her evening with Chat before she drifted off into sleep, dreaming of nothing but being held by someone unidentifiable with a distinct scent.


	3. Monday

                “Hey Marinette!” called Alya as Marinette dashed into the classroom just before the bell rang. She plopped down her backpack and set her purse on the floor next to it before collapsing in her seat. In front of her, Adrien turned around to say something to someone in one of the back rows so Marinette sat up straight, straightened her skirt, and started playing with her hair while distinctly looking in a different direction. Adrien turned back around and Marinette sank back down, exhaling. Alya raised an eyebrow. Marinette opened her mouth to rebuke the eyebrow-raise, but the teacher began talking so she turned forward, tight-lipped. There was a rustling, and Marinette looked down to see a note Alya had scribbled on some notebook paper:

 

OK girl, spill!!!

                                                what do u mean “spill”

GIRL YOU KNOW

 

                Marinette blushed and looked out of the window. On Sunday, she’d texted her BFF about Adrien driving her home, which had met with quite a frantic reaction on the other end of the line. What created an even bigger reaction was Marinette’s apparent nonchalance about the whole matter. Marinette looked down at the paper again. Alya had triple under-lined “spill!!!”

 

                                                well he drove me home

yeah and?

                                                he just dropped me off at home

YEAH AND?

                                                that was it alya i don’t know what youre expecting

UM NO THAT IS NOT IT

what did u talk about on the car ride?

                                                nothing

nothing?

                                                he tried to talk to me but i was stuttering too much so he gave up

EXCUUUUUSE ME

that is a sign of INTEREST

 

                “Pardon me, ladies, what’s that paper you happen to be passing back and forth?” Marinette looked up from a pending rebuttal to the entire classroom staring at her. Including Adrien. She immediately turned red.

                “Just comparing notes, Ms!” chirped Alya. The teacher made a noise of disbelief but dropped the matter and returned to the board. The rest of the class turned back the right way round in their seat. Marinette mashed her face into the table, trying to hide her embarrassment. Alya patted her back, very obviously trying to hold in a laugh, which made Marinette smile, even through her suffering.

-

                “And then she TOTALLY defeated him!” said Alya triumphantly, thrusting her fist into the air. Marinette laughed and shut her locker.

                “Uh, yeah, Alya. I read your blog. Plus, you’ve told me that story like, a thousand times already.”

                “But does it ever get any less badass!?”

                “Well…” Marinette trailed off and the two best friends laughed.

                “Hey Alya, hey Marinette,” said Nino coming up to them. “Marinette, what are you up to after school today?”

                “Oh, well…” Marinette couldn’t really tell him her _exact_ plans for this afternoon. “I’ll probably walk around the city for a little while. How about you?”

                “Project,” Nino and Alya said in unison, making all three giggle.

                “I still think it’s so cool how you guys are doing it on Ladybug,” said Adrien, walking over to stand next to Nino. He furrowed his brow and rubbed his chin. “But like. _Ancient_ Ladybug.”

                “Right on, my man,” said Nino, slinging an arm around Adrien.

                “I keep forgetting you’re such a Ladybug fan, Adrien!” said Alya. “You keep updated on the Ladyblog, right?”

                “Religiously,” said Adrien. Deadpan. Marinette couldn’t tell whether all the blood in her head just left or whether all the blood in the rest of her body just rushed to her face. She hadn’t really registered that _Adrien_ liked _Ladybug_. _If only he knew she was standing three feet away from him_. He continued: “But do you know anything about some kinda ancient Ladybug—or Chat Noir for that matter—that wasn’t from Egypt? Like is it some kinda reincarnation-type thing? And are they like, the same person over and over again or do different people just take up the job?”

                “That…” said Alya, absolutely floored with the rest of them. “… is all very viable and valuable information. Could I get you to say all that again while I record you?”

                _Bip bip bip!_

                “Aw,” said Adrien, looking at his watch alarm. “I have to go model. I’ll see you guys later. Good luck on getting your project finished!”

                “See ya, bro,” said Nino as Alya waved.

                “Bye Marinette,” Adrien said and rounded the corner. Marinette’s mouth dropped wide open with shock and Alya’s was wide open with glee. She viciously elbowed her lovesick friend in the side, wiggling her eyebrows.

                “Ow!” yelped Marinette, instantly feigning innocence when Nino turned around with a confused expression. Alya turned him around by the shoulders.

                “Well, we’d best be going so we can get to work before the kids come home from afterschool activities,” Alya said, nudging Nino towards the school entrance. She turned back towards Marinette, eyebrows raised. “I’ll talk to _you_ later.”

                “Bye bye!” tittered Marinette, wiggling her fingers in goodbye, before curling them into a fist. She had some _awesome_ afterschool activities herself.

-

                Ladybug had been patrolling the city for about an hour and a half; keeping discreet, even as she leapt above the heads of the unknowing people of Paris. Occasionally some little child would catch her swinging across rooftops and call out her name, but by the time their parents had looked up, she’d be gone. Once Ladybug realized how long she’d been out, she started heading to Notre Dame.

                Notre Dame was their usual meet-up spot. Initially, Chat had insisted on the Eifel Tower (more romantic!) but had conceded to Ladybug’s preference for solid stone beneath her feet. Just something about the rickety, rusty metal didn’t make her feel so good about climbing around in. She kept worrying she’d break the whole thing to smithereens. Chat—well, he was pretty used to breaking things into smithereens. It was kind of his whole schtick. Ladybug paced the ledge, hopping over gargoyles and the like. She loved to see all the people in the square below. Even though a lot of them were American tourists.

                “Why, my lady, you shouldn’t be doing something so dangerous! You could fall, and then where would I be?” Chat Noir purred from around the balcony. Ladybug looked up from her feet to smile at him. He looked slightly surprised, but changed his expression into a more flirtatious one. “Could my lady be happy to see me?”

                “No more than usual,” Ladybug quickly corrected. She forgot that the last time she saw Chat it was as Marinette on her roof, and she’d invited him to return. Why was she acting like a little schoolgirl with a crush? It was that kind of behavior that drove Adrien away anyway. But wait, he’d said bye to her specifically today…

                “My lady?” Chat said quizzically. Ladybug shook her head. She must have been totally zoning out.

                “Sorry Chat. Just thinking.” She looked down over the square before hearing a crash and a few screams. She turned back to Chat grinning. “Wanna kick some akuma ass?”

                “You know it,” Chat winked and they launched themselves off the building.

                “I CAN HAVE BALLOONS ANY TIME I WANT, GOT IT?” hollered the akuma, who appeared to be a little boy about eight years old. He was dressed in a poofy costume that looked like balloons of all different colors, and had one red balloon tied to his wrist.

                “Hey kid, I can understand wanting to let off a little hot air, but there’s no need to act like a basket case,” quipped Chat.

                “I AM THE BALLOONIST AND I CAN HAVE BALLOONS ANY TIME I **WANT**!” the akuma cried, and balloons flew out of his costume towards the heroes.

                “How bad could a couple balloons be?” asked Ladybug. Chat shrugged, and was promptly hit by some launched balloons, which propelled him across the square and smack into the side of a building.

                “I know balloons can take you to greater heights, but that sure didn’t take me to cloud nine!” said Chat, wincing as he stood up. Ladybug dodged another barrage. She caught a glimpse of purple in the balloon tied to the akuma’s wrist.

                “Chat! Cut the string!”

                “Got it! CATACLYSM!”

                “Hey over here, airhead!” called Ladybug. The Balloonist turned to look at her, while Chat’s Cataclysm freed the balloon from the boy’s wrist.

                “MY BALLOON!” the akuma screeched.

                “LUCKY CHARM!” called Ladybug. “A butterfly net?”

                “Wrong childhood activity!” called Chat, dodging attacks from a crying Balloonist.

                “Chat, launch me up into the air! Quickly!” Ladybug called. Chat dashed over to his partner and gathered her up before springing up into the air with his pole, letting Ladybug springboard off his cupped hands. She shot up high enough into the air so that she could swing the butterfly net over the runaway balloon before beginning to fall. “AAAAAAAA! CHAT!”

                “MY BALLOON!” sobbed the Balloonist, still aiming at Chat, who was trying to place himself just so that…

                “Gotcha,” he winked as Ladybug landed perfectly in his arms. They sprung apart to dodge another balloon attack.

                “Sorry kid,” Ladybug said and popped the red balloon from the butterfly net. She purified the akuma which fluttered out of it, and used Miraculous Ladybug so that everything was righted. The little boy sat up on the ground, looking around disoriented.

                “Where’s my balloon?” he said. Ladybug handed him a blue one from a nearby vendor.

                “Here you go kiddo. Maybe stay away from red for a bit.” The little boy beamed and ran back to his parents, both wearing “I love Paris” t-shirts, who promptly brandished cameras. Chat Noir quickly ran up to Ladybug and put his hand around her waist to pose with her. He was beaming and really yukking it up for the camera.

                “How apt you used a butterfly net to catch an akuma!” he whispered to her while still smiling. Ladybug shivered. For some reason his whisper was affecting her in a different way than it should have.

                “Yeah,” she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wahhh sorry i think i've been making the chapters get shorter and shorter -.- i'll try to nip that in the bud. thanks for reading everybody! you're all very sweet and i hope to live up to expectations!  
> (updated the rating cuz i realized there's CUSSING and we must SAVE THE CHIRREN)


	4. Monday Night and Tuesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;^)

                “ _Mmhmumfmhmmm_ ,” said Marinette.

                “Wh… What?” said Tikki. Marinette lifted her head from the pillow.

                “Can you like two people at the same time?” she said, and plopped her head back down. Tikki smiled.

                “I have lived for many ages, miss Ladybug,” she said. “And I can tell you for certain: you can be in love—” (a glare from Marinette) “—in _like_ with more than one person at once. I’ve seen things like this time and time again.”

                “Then… Does it work out?” said Marinette, her voice cracking. She buried her face into the pillow to muffle a sob.

                “Oh, Marinette!” Tikki cried. She flew over to the weeping girl and soothingly petted her back. Unfortunately because of her small size, the effect wasn’t quite the same, but it made Marinette feel a little better anyway. “I know things seem confusing and difficult right now, but it’s all a part of life. You shouldn’t feel pressured to act or decide on your feelings. Just let them flow their course. They’re feelings! It’s just what they do.”

                “Thanks, Tikki,” Marinette snuffled. She turned her face to the side and wiped her face with a tissue. Tikki smiled, but her stomach started to rumble. She sheepishly laughed, but Marinette smiled and waved her away so she could go eat. She flew over to the desk to nibble on her cookies. Marinette sighed quietly. It wasn’t like she didn’t like Adrien anymore, but for some reason she was… feeling things. About Chat. _For_ Chat. But it was weird. Whenever she was around him as Marinette, he was, what? Sensitive? Caring? His behavior around Ladybug was still insufferable, but for some reason, his endearing nature from talking to Marinette somehow bled over into all his actions? Like it was weird. Marinette didn’t quite get it herself, but… she almost liked him as _Marinette_ , but as _Ladybug_ , she still didn’t like him. Even though she was the same person. Plus, _Marinette_ and Chat have only talked like, two-three times! Marinette buried her head into the pillow. “MMMGH!”

                “Marinette, are you okay?” called Tikki anxiously from the desk.

                “Mmf,” replied Marinette. She lifted her head to check the clock, then got out of bed and went downstairs to make some tea. She then went back upstairs to grab her fluffy blanket and went outside. She plopped down onto the sofa and sipped her tea, blowing on it every so often, doing some thinking. She sighed.

                “What troubles you, Princess?” called a silky voice from the darkness, sending a shiver down Marinette’s spine. She set down her tea on the coffee table in front of her and took a deep breath.

                “Come sit down, Chat,” she said. He leapt over the back of the sofa, settling gently on the cushion next to her. His arm was resting on the back of the sofa behind her head. “I uh, feel like I sh-should t-tell you. Uh.”

                “Princess?” Marinette grimaced. She was acting just as bad as she did around Adrien. It was this kind of bullshit stuttering that drove her _primary_ crush away!

                “I know w-we haven’t really, uh, talked a l-lot, but I uh. Um. K-kind of l-like you. You know. B-but!” she clenched her fists in frustration, then dropped them into her lap in defeat. She’d never get anywhere with anything if she kept this up.

                “Marinette, it’s me. You don’t have to act different around me,” Chat slowly spoke as he leaned across Marinette’s body to rest his weight on the sofa’s armrest on the other side of her. “It’s just me.”

                Marinette continued looking down at her lap.

                “Marinette,” said Chat, looking her in the eye, and for once in her life, Marinette didn’t get flustered or try to run away. She looked up and met his gaze. His eyes were crazy; they really were just like a cat’s—all luminescent and shiny, with big dilated pupils. Marinette took a small breath and lifted her hands to place on either side of his face, slowly stroking his cheeks with her thumbs. His eyelids fluttered shut as she continued to lightly stroke his face. Touching him was so different without her Ladybug gloves. His skin was soft and smooth, and all the hair on his face was still baby fuzz, without the coarseness of facial hair. She let her fingers drift over to his mouth, touching his lips and he gently kissed each finger she ran over them. She dropped her hands to his chest and shoulders, feeling his elevated heartbeat, and the deep rumble of his soft purring. Marinette had to stop herself from giggling as she nudged his bell and it made a tinkling sound. She saw Chat’s mouth curl up into a soft smile, his eyes still closed; and with that, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. They stayed still for a short while, their noses breathing out hot air onto the other before Marinette drew back and let her arms fall from his shoulders.

                “Chat!” she gasped. “Chat, your face is all red!”

                “M-my—” he stuttered. His face was truly red as a beet, in fact, every piece of skin he had showing was flushed. “My first kiss.”

                “Oh!” Marinette clamped her hands over her mouth. She wouldn’t have suspected that someone who acted as suave as Chat did would have absolutely no experience with actual kissing! Marinette had had her first kiss when she was twelve. Well, her _first_ kiss was at seven on the playground, but you know. Her first _actual_ kiss. And this was Chat’s (excluding the time Ladybug kissed him to break an evil curse, but details). She opened her hands a little bit. “I’m sorry, Chat. Are you mad?”

                “Will you kiss me again?” said Chat, leaning forward in anticipation. His eyes were sparkling like a little kid’s. It was so freaking cute that Marinette blushed a little.

                “Uh, okay,” she said smiling, her breath a little short. She leaned forward slightly, but Chat leaned forward too fast at the same time and they bonked noses. Marinette leaned back and rubbed her nose. “Ow.”

                “I’m thorry,” said Chat, also rubbing his nose, making Marinette giggle.

                “Okay, how about _you_ kiss _me_?” said Marinette. “I’ll sit still and you be the one leaning forward.”

                “Oh, I uh—” stuttered Chat. Marinette closed her eyes and waited. She heard the sofa creak as Chat shifted more weight onto the armrest. She could feel the warmth of his skin as he hovered in front of her face for a few moments without touching. Then, he gently pressed his slightly-open mouth against hers. She moved her hands up to cup his face, and pull him a little harder towards her. He obliged, and kissed a little harder. He tilted his head to the other side to kiss her again. And again and again. Marinette carefully parted her lips a tiny bit to lick Chat’s lower lip. She felt him shudder, so she did it again, and Chat grabbed the side of her head, forcing her to move her hands down, and he opened his mouth against hers. With her hands against his chest, she could feel his thudding heartbeat, which matched her own. She clenched her fists in his costume when she felt his tongue in her mouth. Changing angles, their teeth clicked together, and noses bumped, but as far as first kisses go, Chat was doing a fucking good job. Marinette wove her fingers into the hair on the back of his head, and just as she could feel him putting more weight on her, there was a loud crash. They broke apart and craned their heads around to see that Chat’s foot had knocked over the mug, shattering it to smithereens. Chat turned back to Marinette, face beet-red again.

                “Oh no, I’m so sorry!” he cried and jumped up to pick up the pieces. Marinette was stunned for just a moment from how quickly kissing had turned into not-kissing.

                “Chat, it’s okay,” she said, getting up and placing her hand on his shoulder. Chat dropped all the pieces he’d picked up already.

                “Sorry!” he said again, and started over. Marinette giggled and rubbed her face. She could still feel where Chat’s mouth had been against hers, and, more importantly, where it now was not. At present, it was down over there, while Chat picked up little ceramic pieces of mug off the roof.

                “It’s okay,” Marinette repeated, as Chat stood up with his hands full of no-longer-mug. Marinette held out her shirt in a basket for him to deposit the garbage. She stretched up on her tip-toes to give him a peck on the cheek. He was still blushing, looking everywhere but at her. Marinette turned around and went inside to throw away the pieces. Brushing off her shirt, she went back outside, but Chat was gone. She looked around for a moment, but guessed that Chat’s time was almost up anyways; she easily could have not heard his ring beep from how loud her heartbeat was in her ears, but she was sad she didn’t get to say goodbye. She grabbed her blanket from where it had fallen off the sofa and went back inside. When she saw Tikki asleep already, she realized that it was pretty late, and she did have school tomorrow. She clambered into bed, but couldn’t fall asleep for quite a while because of her distracting thoughts of her and Chat’s kiss. Even when she did eventually fall asleep, it was all she dreamed about. Well, except for that weird bit with the giraffe in the bakery.

-

                “Does that seem good?” said Nino to Alya. Adrien was nodding in approval.

                “Yup, seems fine to me!” chirped Alya. “Man, we are gonna kick _ass_ with this project! Nobody’ll even know what hit ‘em!”

                “Hey guys, break a leg,” said Marinette, walking up to the trio of her classmates. She’d never been a morning person in her life, but today she walked with a little spring in her step, and didn’t even think twice about approaching the group, which came with the helpful little label: “Caution: contains Adrien. Do not engage unless super duper brave.”

                “AH! We gotta go inside, STAT!” Alya yelped, looking at the time on her phone. She waved good morning to Marinette before dragging Nino into the classroom, and once again, it was Adrien and Marinette left alone together, shuffling their feet. She drew in a breath.

                “Lucky we don’t have to do that,” Marinette said casually, _without stuttering_. Maybe her newfound bravery came from both admitting to Chat and like… making out with him. But now the standard roles between the two classmates seem to have been reversed, as Adrien shifted his weight nervously and darted his eyes around. And… was that a blush?

                “I’m k-kinda nervous about what we’re gonna have to do instead,” Adrien laughed weakly. There was no way his nervousness about a simple school project would make him act like this. Marinette leaned forward.

                “Adrien?” He jumped at the sound of his own name.

                “Oops, g-g-gotta go!” he squeaked and dashed off. Marinette was left behind in confusion. That was by far the weirdest and most uncomfortable conversation (if it could even be called that) with Adrien she’d ever had. And she’d had a LOT of awkward moments with that boy. Puzzled, Marinette made her way over to her locker before heading back to class.

                Boy, did she have some news for Alya.


	5. Tuesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's some angst in this chapter! brace yourselves

                “WHAT!?” hollered Alya. Other students turned around to see who was yelling so loud. Marinette grimaced and smacked her hand over her best friend’s mouth. Alya narrowed her eyes and removed Marinette’s hand. “Excuse me, but I sure would like to know what has made you _reevaluate_ your crush on Adrien.”

                “Well…” Marinette was kind of regretting telling Alya anything at all. She always fell for this! The needing to tell Alya everything, the subsequent (predictable) Alya reaction… Marinette wondered if they’d ever cut the act, but for now, it was definitely still going on strong. She turned away from her friend and opened her locker.

                “You can’t hide this behind a locker door! It won’t stop me!”

                “Okay,” said Marinette, closing her locker and looking Alya in the eye. “It’s not like I don’t like him anymore. I do! I _do_. But there’s just a lot of factors…”

                “Girl, literally no factor that could throw anybody off has ever shook you on the subject of Adrien. You can’t be _getting over_ him, you don’t get over a crush unless—” Alya gasped and grabbed Marinette by the shoulders to pull her very close. “—you have a crush on someone else.”

                “What?!” Marinette laughed very loudly. “Ha ha ha! Whew! Alya, you are quite the card!”

                “Marinette,” Alya said, her arms crossed and an eyebrow arched. Marinette’s false smile fell.

                “Okay, so, like. I _may_ have kissed another boy…”

-

                “I hope she’ll appreciate the cookies!” said Mrs. Dupain-Cheng to herself, whistling as she stepped up the front stairs of her daughter’s school. She’d been told that Marinette and her friend Alya were staying afterschool to do class presidential planning of some sort. She believed it involved some craft project, but hadn’t pried too deep. What she _did_ know was that her daughter had become very fond of cookies as of late, and would surely appreciate the tasty afterschool treat. Just as she was about to enter the building, the doors burst open, toppling her cookie sheet and ruining her hard work. Out of the door stepped a prissy-looking blonde girl followed by a meek redhead. The blonde laughed.

                “Oh look, it’s that _Marinette_ ’s mother, isn’t it? I’d be so ashamed to have a daughter like _her_!” Chloe laughed. Suddenly her face fell and she looked at the bottom of her high heel. “Ugh! I stepped in one! Disgusting!” Chloe and her friend walked down the stairs laughing, leaving Mrs. Dupain-Cheng on the ground, scrambling to pick up the pieces of her cookies.

                _Madame. How horrid those children are to insult your daughter like that! They deserve to be punished, do they not?_

                “They do.”

-

                “WHO THE FU—” Alya began, but suddenly there was a crash and a scream. Alya gasped. “That sounded like Chloe! Wh— Marinette, where’d you go?”

                “Excuse me!” cried Ladybug, dashing past Alya.

                “Ladybug, wait! Let me ask you—!” Alya called after her hero. When she realized Ladybug was out of earshot, her shoulders slumped for a moment before she straightened up again. “Right. Gotta find Marinette.”

-

                “Bad girls should be punished!” called the akuma, flinging cookies from her baking sheet at Chloe and Sabrina as clung to each other, screaming. Suddenly a whirr of red light appeared between the projectiles and the girls.

                “Ladybug!” Chloe cried. “I just knew you’d come to save me! Hey, you still haven’t given me your autograph!”

                “Uh, maybe later,” grimaced Ladybug. Quickly, she blocked another attack. _Chat, where are you already_?

                “Those are naughty children! They insulted my daughter! They deserve to die!” screamed the menacing figure at the top of the stairs. Ladybug paused to examine the supervillain, then gasped. Even though her skin was pink and her hair was made out of fire, Marinette could recognize her own mother anywhere. She staggered backwards. Another attack was launched, too quickly for Ladybug to react, but suddenly a _shing_ of metal zipped in front of her, blocking the cookies from hitting her. The cocky grin of Chat Noir appeared over his right shoulder, but Ladybug could see the tension in his face.

                “Are you alright, Ladybug?” he said, breaking his staff away. Ladybug shook her head, then got into a ready stance.

                “Thanks, Chat. We’ve gotta figure out where the akuma is, and fast! These students won’t last if we aren’t defending them every moment!”

                “I’ll get them to safety, Ladybug!” called Alya, ushering the trembling Chloe and Sabrina away.

                “Oh, your friend Marinette, she’s evacuating people, too!” Ladybug called down. She quickly dodged a cookie sheet by jumping over it. It flew a ways behind her, but continued spinning, and switched directions like a boomerang.

                “Watch out!” called Chat Noir, and Ladybug turned to jump over it as it returned to its master.

                “The cookie sheet?” Ladybug questioned. Chat shook his head, twirling his staff.

                “No, it wouldn’t be used as an attack,” he replied. Ladybug furrowed her brow. What could it be? Suddenly she noticed what the akuma—her _mother_ was wearing: it was the apron Marinette had made and embroidered for her birthday the year past. Surely Chloe’s attack against Marinette had triggered her mother’s maternal fury, so it would make sense that a sentimental item from her daughter would hold the akuma.

                “Chat! The apron!” Ladybug called to her partner. He nodded grimly.

                “Not so fast!” called the akuma, noticing Chloe’s escape. She halted the three girls with a cookie sheet in the ground in front of them. “You aren’t going anywhere without getting your just reward!”

                “Lucky Charm!” cried Ladybug, receiving a mirror. Using her quick-thinking, she fastened it to the overhang of the school building at the exact angle so the akuma could see Chloe in it. She tapped on the mirror, causing the figure to look up. “Looking for _her_?”

                “Augh!” the akuma yelled, and jumped up, her hands outstretched.

                “Now!” called Ladybug, and Chat pounced on the akuma while she had her arms up, pinning her to the ground so Ladybug could take the apron. The akuma’s eyes widened.

                “Owie owie ouch!” cried Chat, jumping away from the akuma, who was now encased in fire. He shook his burned paws. The heat had melted through his costume to the skin. “ _Augh_!”

                “THAT’S FROM MY DAUGHTER, YOU MONSTER!” cried the akuma, pointing at Ladybug, who was frozen in place, clutching the apron. She took a halting step away from the form of her mother. “GIVE IT BACK! IF YOU KNEW WHAT THESE EVIL GIRLS HAD SAID, YOU WOULD LET ME PUNISH THEM!”

                “LADY, DO IT NOW!” screamed Chat, his hands contorted in pain. His voice shook her and she tore the apron in two, causing the akuma to scream in agony. The superhero used Miraculous Ladybug and a healing light passed over all the places that had been affected. Chat sighed in relief as his hands were miraculously healed.

                “Huh?” said Mrs. Dupain-Cheng, getting up from the ground. “What happened?”

                “Good work—” said Chat, holding his hand out for a fist-bump, but Ladybug was nowhere to be seen. He looked over at the confused woman on the steps, and recognized her as Marinette’s mother. He looked from side to side, but he couldn’t find Adrien’s classmate in the time he had left as Chat. He ran off to the side of the school to transform, then dashed over to Alya.

                “Adrien, have you seen Marinette?” she asked pleadingly. “Her mother was the akuma, and I’m really worried about her.”

                “No,” said Adrien, his eyes wide. He dashed inside the school, and saw Marinette emerging from a broom closet. “Marinette! Are you okay?”

                Marinette looked up at him, her face twisted in fear and pain. She pushed past him to run outside. Adrien followed her out the doors in time to see her shove away her best friend as she ran home, Alya calling her name as she ran away. Adrien clenched his jaw and drew together his eyebrows.

-

                Marinette finally reached her room and threw her backpack on the floor. She stood, gasping for breath—it wasn’t the stairs that had winded her, but somehow the events of the afternoon had made her chest feel tight. She opened and closed her mouth, but no air was moving through. There was a tap on the door to the roof. When there was no response, Chat Noir dropped through to see Marinette clutching the back of her desk chair, her other hand fisted in her own shirt, dry-heaving.

                “Marinette,” he said. She looked up at him, and her face was the most haunted Chat had ever seen. “Oh no, Marinette, oh my god. Oh god, oh my god I’m so sorry.”

                “I…” Marinette swallowed and her eyes filled with tears. She choked back a sob and Chat ran over to gather her in his arms. With her face pressed into Chat’s shoulder, Marinette began to cry in earnest, clutching his back.

                “Marinette, I’m so sorry.”

                “I-i-i-i-it was m-my m-m-m-m-mOTHER,” she sob-screamed into Chat’s shoulder, grasping him tighter. Chat felt petrified at her reaction. He would _never_ feel something like this for his father; Marinette’s reaction was one of a child terrified at the power and rage of her own parent, one whom she trusted and loved implicitly. Even the evil presence of the akuma couldn’t mask the fact that all she had wanted was to protect her child. Chat squeezed Marinette a little tighter.

                “I… I know,” he said, gently petting her hair as she continued to sob. Chat was beginning to sway from the emotional weight as well as the crying girl in his arms. He maneuvered over towards the bed and sat down on it, but Marinette pulled him down into a lying position. She wrapped her whole body around Chat’s frame, her chest heaving with sobs. Chat held her to him, and softly pet her hair and rubbed her back, until slowly, the sobs subsided and Marinette dropped off into sleep. Her hyperventilating crying had completely drained her of all remaining energy (as unbeknownst to Chat, she had very little left from fighting as Ladybug). Chat stayed for a while, just lying still, continuing to stroke Marinette’s back until her shuddering breathing evened out into a more normal pace. His ring beeped and Chat winced, worrying it would wake the sleeping girl in his arms. When Marinette didn’t stir, he detached himself from her arms and drew a blanket up around her shoulders. He gently pressed his lips against her forehead, where he paused for a moment. He then dashed up the stairs and out onto the roof, fleeing into the dusk.


	6. Friday

                “AH! AH!,” Marinette screamed as she sat straight up in bed. She clapped her hands over her mouth to muffle her screams as she began to cry.

                “Marinette!” cried Tikki, and flew over to the girl. Marinette was still whimpering as she covered her face. “Marinette, was it another nightmare?”

                “Mhm,” Marinette answered, choking back more sobs. Tikki brushed back Marinette’s messy bedhead from her forehead.

                “Marinette, maybe you should go back to sleep, huh?”

                “No Tikki, I’ve already missed two days of school,” said Marinette, sniffling. She took a sip from the glass of water beside her bed and shakily stood up. The incident where her mother had been possessed by an akuma had left her shaken and disoriented. She’d slept for most of the past two days, barely eating anything. She’d seen her phone, her notifications full of messages from Alya and some of her other classmates, but she hadn’t looked at any of them. Alya in particular was probably worried sick. So—she had to go to school today, even though it was Friday and she’d already missed half the week. Turns out being a superhero was more taxing than she’d initially thought. She figured she could at least use the weekend to catch up on her homework if she actually went to school to collect it. She also hadn’t been out on patrol as Ladybug for those two whole days. Thank god there’d been no attacks. The akuma sent to her mother was a very powerful one, especially psychologically, so maybe Hawkmoth had used a lot of energy. It was difficult to tell when, how, and where he would attack—there would be periods of attacks every day, then days on end with nothing. Marinette shrugged on some comfortable jeans and a hoodie.

                “Are you sure you’re okay to go back to school? I don’t want you to over-exert yourself; you went through a lot,” said Tikki anxiously, fluttering around Marinette’s head. Marinette gave a shaky breath, then a yawn.

                “Yes I’m sure, Tikki,” replied Marinette, tying her shoes and grabbing her backpack from where it lay when she’d dropped it there on Tuesday afternoon. She opened her purse for Tikki to fly into, then headed downstairs. She grabbed a muffin for breakfast and a cookie for Tikki from the kitchen before going down into the bakery, where she passed her father.

                “Sweetheart! Are you well enough to go to school today?” called the large man from behind the counter—there were customers that couldn’t be ignored. Marinette had her hood over her face so he couldn’t tell that she’d been crying, or think that it was pinkeye or something.

                “Yes, Papa,” Marinette answered, scurrying out the doors. She plodded her way over to the close-by school, and went inside to homeroom. She sat down in her usual seat and removed her hood, as head coverings were against school rules. Oddly enough, the ever-punctual Alya wasn’t in her seat yet—but speak of the devil, she bust through the door. When she caught sight of Marinette, she dashed up next to her best friend as quickly as she could to wrap her in a warm hug.

                “Oh my god, Marinette, I was so so so sosososo so worried about you!” cried Alya, pulling back. “Are you alright?”

                “Yeah I’m fine,” Marinette said. Alya looked piercingly into her eyes. Marinette turned away. At that very moment, Adrien walked through the door and made eye contact with her. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but the teacher rapped on her desk and told the children to take their seats. Adrien acquiesced and took his usual place directly in front of Marinette, and took out a pen and paper. Marinette leaned her chin on her hand and lazily took notes. She was in such a daze, she barely registered that Adrien had folded up a piece of paper and was now holding it behind his back. He shook the paper slightly, catching Marinette’s eye and suddenly she jerked to attention. She looked over at Alya, who arched her eyebrows and nodded towards the paper as Adrien shook it again. Marinette gently took it from his fingers and unfolded it to reveal his semi-tidy, semi-messy handwriting.

 

                                Hi Marinette, I hope you’re feeling OK after what

                                happened on Tuesday. Did you get my text?

 

                Marinette froze and looked at her phone, which was sitting on the corner of her desk. Alya took the paper from her hands and after a moment Marinette could feel her best friend’s eyes burning holes into her. The phone lay, tantalizing, right there, on the desk. Adrien tapped his fingers on his desk. He was waiting for an answer. Marinette was still frozen, until Alya pinched her. When Marinette whipped her head around, Alya gave some very pointed and aggressive looks from her to the phone. Marinette looked up at the teacher—this one was always a real stickler for the rules, and could hear anything. There was no way she could get away with unlocking her phone and searching for Adrien’s text amongst the hundreds of others (even if they _were_ almost all from Alya). But she _could_ write a note back.

 

                                Yeah, I got it! I was just feeling too sick to reply :(

 

                Marinette hastily scrawled on the paper Adrien had passed her, then folded it and stealthily held it in front of her. She gently nudged Adrien’s shoulder with the paper, and he took it before the teacher saw. Marinette watched him open it, read it, and write a response. She took back the note as soon as he held it out.

 

                                Cool, so I’ll meet you at your locker at lunch.

 

                Once again, Marinette’s blood ran cold. WHAT THE FUCK DID THE TEXT SAY???? Alya read the note over Marinette’s shoulder and her eyebrows went up so high, it was surprising they stayed on her face at all. She grabbed a piece of her own notebook paper and furiously scribbled a note of her own, twisting the paper so Marinette could read it.

 

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, MARI

                                                I DIDN’T READ IT

YOU DIDN’T READ THE TEXT???

 

                Marinette grinned sheepishly at her fuming friend, who’d triple-underlined “what the actual fuck.”

 

I’m literally trying to help you get the boy

of ur dreams and this is what you do to me

                                                I’m sorry!!!!

 

                Alya scoffed, like she’d never forgive Marinette for this transgression. Marinette doodled little hearts and phrases like “I love Alya” and “Alya’s the best” all over the paper. Alya rolled her eyes, but smiled, before picking up her pen.

 

You and I are gonna talk after class

-

                “Okay, so, first of all, what the actual fuck,” said Alya. They were at Marinette’s locker after class.

                “Well,” said Marinette, furiously scrolling through her notifications. Jeez, these things really racked up when you didn’t check them for two days. On any other occasion, she’d just delete everything and the important stuff would come around again, but this time she _needed_ to know what Adrien sent her! “Maybe if _you_ didn’t want to talk to me so much, there wouldn’t be so much of a problem!”

                “Don’t blame me for loving you.” The two girls were so absorbed in finding The Text that they didn’t notice Adrien and Nino walking out of the classroom.

                “Hey girls,” said Nino.

                “Eep!” squeaked Marinette, catching sight of her crush, and hid her phone behind her back.

                “Hey Marinette,” said Adrien. “Sorry; it’s in my locker, and I gotta run to class, but I’ll catch you at lunch.”

                “Err, yeah! Cool!” peeped Marinette, and the two boys passed by, Adrien kinda breaking into a trot to get to where he needed to go in time. Marinette’s eyes were kinda glued to his backside, before Alya interrupted her reverie.

                “Marinette. What. Is. ‘It’?” Alya said, shaking Marinette by the shoulders.

                “I don’t know! Ugh, it exited out,” said Marinette, pressing buttons on her phone. Alya gave an exasperated yell and tugged on her own hair. The warning bell rang, signaling they had only five minutes to get to class. Simultaneously electing to get to class rather than wade through mountains of notifications (because _Marinette_ didn’t have the _texting icon_ which would have made everything a lot _easier_!) the pair scampered off, lunchtime bring what it may.

-

                Marinette stood by her locker, anxiously closing it, then unlocking and opening it, then closing it again. She almost started chewing on her nails, but took out a piece of gum instead. She started putting in her combination again, when she heard footsteps behind her.

                “Hey Marinette, I have your homework like I said!” chirped Adrien. Marinette turned around, slamming her locker behind her (Adrien didn’t really need to see the pictures of him she had plastered all over its interior).

                “My homework,” she repeated. The penny dropped. Her homework. Because she had been absent. That made… a _lot_ of sense.

                “Yup!” he said cheerfully, holding out the papers to his classmate. She took them, circuits finally connected.

                “Thank you so much, Adrien! I uh, don’t know what I would’ve done o-otherwise,” she flustered. Adrien smiled. Marinette melted.

                “It’s no problem,” he said, then solemnly, he put his hand on her upper arm and leaned in kind of close. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I heard that monster-thing took over your mom. I know that was probably really hard for you to see.”

                “Uh,” said Marinette. Adrien’s hand was so, so warm, and his thumb had started rubbing her shoulder. “Y-yes.”

                “Well,” Adrien said, straightening up as some other students walked by. “You can talk to me about it, if you wanna. I’ve been in, uh, been really close to some of those battle-things.”

                “Y-yeah,” said Marinette.

                “Also, uh,” said Adrien, rubbing the back of his neck. It was very familiar, somehow… “I’m sorry for acting… weird? Sometimes? Around you.”

                “Oh,” said Marinette. Had he acted weird around her? It was kind of hard to remember/tell what with all of her own acting awkward. “It’s okay. Really.”

                “Cool,” said Adrien, giving her a big smile. “Have a great lunch.”

                “Y-you too,” said Marinette as he walked away. She leaned back against her locker and slowly slid down to the floor. Holy shit.

                “ _HOLY SHIT_!” Alya stage-whispered as she scurried up to her best friend. “What happened there? What was ‘it’? What did he whisper to you?”

                “Uh, well, he’d collected my homework,” said Marinette. Alya thunked her hand against her head in an “I’m so stupid” sign. “And he just wanted to make sure I was okay after the akuma attack. Since it was my mom and all.”

                “Girl,” said Alya, gripping Marinette’s shoulders. “This is _big_.”

                “Yeah, you’re telling me,” said Marinette. Suddenly Alya got a wicked grin on her face, causing Marinette some anxiety. “Alya?”

                “But don’t you think that telling me about this new development with Adrien will get you out of telling me about Mystery Kissy Boy,” smirked Alya. Marinette blushed indignantly. She had… forgotten about her kiss with Chat. She’d tell Alya about it, but maybe not disclose _who_ she’d kissed, and maybe not their meeting after the battle with her mother. Alya pulled Marinette to her feet and began to walk down the hallway to the cafeteria. “Okay, spill!”


	7. Friday Night

                Marinette groaned as she came up to her room, clutching her stomach. It just wasn’t fair her parents were so good at cooking that she couldn’t help but to eat as much as she could practically every meal. Well, it was okay for this time, because she hadn’t had any kind of proper meal in two days, so it was good to get in some sustenance. She still had some inner turmoil about her mother; occasionally she’d still flinch whenever Maman went to touch her, but it was getting better. It hadn’t been her fault, after all—and it was things like this that gave even more reason to defeat the akuma along with their master once and for all. Dinner was delicious, but she had been a little flush-faced when she came home from school, provoking her parents into suggesting that she was still sick (untrue). She was only like that because of Alya’s probing questions about her rather steamy night with Chat Noir _as Marinette_. Alya really hadn’t let up from their lunch break until long after school ended. Marinette laughed quietly to herself at the antics of her best friend. She got out her textbook and the homework Adrien had gotten her. A shiver ran up her spine in remembrance of earlier today. She could feel where his hand had been on her arm, and she’d been feeling the ghost-movement of his thumb all day. She shook her head. She really had to focus; there really was a lot of homework to do, and she couldn’t leave it all to Sunday like usual.

                _Tap tap tap!_

                Marinette looked up from her desk to the ladder to the roof. She placed her pencil down and walked up the steps. Opening the latch, she came up eye-to-eye with Chat Noir, who was crouching down. At first, his face stayed neutral, but then his mouth cracked into a huge grin. He held out a hand for Marinette to take and helped her up out onto the roof.

                “How’s my Princess?” he asked. Marinette rolled her eyes, smiling, and sat down on the sofa, followed by Chat, in mirror positions of where they’d sat before. Chat crossed his legs towards Marinette and leaned towards her, settling into a very attentive position. Marinette tucked her hair behind her ear, crossing and uncrossing her ankles.

                “Okay,” she said. Chat was still at attention. “You know, as okay as you get.”

                “Yeah,” he replied, relaxing a bit. He reached an arm over the back of the sofa to play with Marinette’s hair, which was kind of knotted and coming out of its pigtail. He took out the elastic. “Can I braid your hair?”

                “S-sure,” said Marinette. She swiveled around to face away from him, sitting cross-legged, and he took out the elastic on the other side. “Wh—how do you know how to braid hair?”

                “Oh you know,” Chat laughed. “The Boy Scouts. I could do your hair in a bowline if you’d prefer.”

                “A braid’s fine,” Marinette tittered. Boy Scouts made sense, but she had wondered if maybe he had a sister. Or a girlfriend. She could feel his claws gently smoothing the tangles and separating the locks of hair into the right amount on each side.

                “I’m sorry about what happened the other day,” said Chat softly.

                “It—it wasn’t your fault,” said Marinette, looking down at her hands. She could hear the snap of the hair elastics, and Chat’s hands came around to rest next to Marinette’s in her lap. She delicately peeled the gloves off his palms and gently touched them. “Your hands got burned from that battle.”

                “Ladybug’s Miraculous healed them when it was over,” said Chat in her ear, resting his head on her shoulder.

                “I was there.”

                “I know.”

                “I saw you get hurt when you tackled m—the monster.”

                “Yes.”

                “You were screaming,” said Marinette, tears welling up from guilt. She _was_ there, not as Marinette, but as Ladybug. She should have done something sooner, but she was frozen. Chat turned his head to kiss her temple.

                “It wasn’t your fault,” he repeated, pressing his face into her neck. Marinette could feel the distinct texture of his mask and where it ended on his soft skin. She was proud, somehow, that Chat hadn’t revealed his secret identity to Marinette, even though Ladybug wasn’t around to police him. But then again, Chat’s desire for secret identity swap probably did not extend to civilians. After all, Marinette and Chat had a different relationship than Ladybug and Chat. Chat’s mouth opened to lightly suck on Marinette’s neck. A _very_ different relationship.

                “Ah, Chat,” Marinette moaned. She hadn’t meant for it to come out like that. Moaning his name wasn’t on her to-do list of the evening. Yet moan his name she had, and Chat reacted pretty strongly towards it. He grasped her waist and pulled her a bit closer to him, and scraped his teeth along her neck. Marinette gave another involuntary moan, and Chat bit down a little harder, obviously trying not to hurt her. His teeth as Chat were actually a bit sharper than a civilian’s, as well as having superior strength, so he had to be quite gentle, when that clearly was not what he wanted to do. Marinette almost wished she was transformed, so she could take everything Chat could dish out—she was stronger in costume, too. His worrying on the one spot on her neck was making it quite tender and it was starting to hurt, so Marinette grabbed his hair and tugged him away. Chat gave a little whimper. Marinette flipped around and pushed him down onto the sofa, straddling his hips. He seemed pretty breathless, and was looking up at her like… Marinette grabbed Chat’s collar and leaned down to forcefully kiss him. She could feel him moaning under her barrage, but kept kissing him. His hands flailed helplessly, fluttering from her head to her shoulders to her back, completely unable to decide on where to put them. After a few moments he placed them on her hips, and jerked her down towards him. Marinette gave a little gasp as his hips rose up to meet her, and she could feel a part of him that she tried really hard to not notice. “Chat!”

                “Wh-what?” gasped Chat, panting. He grinned sheepishly. “S-sorry, too much?”

                “Yeah,” breathed Marinette. She leaned her head down to press against Chat’s forehead. They were both breathing rather heavily. Chat leaned up to kiss her, giving her little pecks on and around her mouth. Marinette couldn’t help smiling as she squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, you dumb kitty.”

                “Mmm,” said Chat, as he kept kissing her. Marinette leaned back on her heels, giggling as she tried to escape, but he sat up with her, holding her around the waist. She wriggled around, shrieking with laughter, as Chat kept trying to smooch her through his own laughs. In the end, all the squirming caused them both to fall off the sofa and land on the hard rooftop.

                “Ow,” giggled Marinette.

                “At least I broke your fall!” said Chat, rubbing his backside. Marinette kept laughing, covering her face. Chat propped himself up on his hands, as Marinette was still on his lap. He sighed happily. Marinette tucked some hair that had fallen out of the braids behind her ear.

                “Chat, why do you come to see me?”

                “Because I love you, Princess,” said Chat earnestly. Marinette blushed at his straightforwardness. Even though Marinette and Chat had only known each other for a little while, she felt like they’d been together forever. It was the same feeling she got being with Chat as Ladybug, but what was strange was the fact that Chat obviously felt the same about Marinette as he did Ladybug.

                “But before that,” Marinette said. She scrunched up her nose. “And you can’t tell me that that’s how it’s been the whole time.”

                “I—” Chat began. He paused, furrowing his brow. He opened and closed his mouth again. “I knew you…”

                “You mean,” said Marinette haltering. “Like, as a civilian?”

                “But I didn’t _know_ know you,” explained Chat. “And—and I couldn’t. Ever, really. But once I knew you’d talk to Chat, I thought, well, maybe that’s how I _could_ know you.”

                “D-don’t,” said Marinette.

                “No, I won’t tell you who I am,” said Chat, looking to the side. “Even though I—”

                “No! Don’t!” said Marinette, standing up. Chat still sat on the ground, his legs out-stretched and eyes big and pleading. “You can’t tell me who you are! It’s like, against superhero code, probably! I’m not like… Mary Jane! Or something. I don’t wanna be your superhero confidant.”

                “Marinette,” Chat said.

                “No no no no!” she yelled, turning around, clenching the two braids on the side of her head and tugging. She gave a frustrated yell. “Listen, Chat. If that… if that’s the way you had wanted this to go, I don’t think we should see each other like this anymore.”

                “Wait, Marinette,” Chat began, standing up.

                “No YOU wait a minute!” Marinette hollered, shoving her finger into Chat’s chest. “That’s what I said and that’s how it’s gonna be. I _don’t_ want you tapping on my window every other night anymore!”

                “Princess,” Chat said. Marinette glared at him and he shrunk away. He walked over to the edge of the balcony before turning back. “Okay. If you want me to go, I’ll go.”

                “Chat,” said Marinette, over by the door. “Just because… Listen; I just don’t want to see Chat Noir on my roof anymore. You know?”

                “Yeah,” said Chat, giving her a nod. “Good-goodbye, Princess. Marinette. I guess… Well. Bye.”

                “Bye, Chat,” said Marinette. They stood facing each other for a moment, neither making a move to leave. Finally Chat took a breath and putting his hand on his hip, he saluted Marinette. He then sprung off her roof, activating his staff to bounce from terrace to terrace over the rooftops of Paris. Marinette watched him until he was gone, then the skyline for a long time after that. Eventually, she opened the hatch and went downstairs into her room, climbed into bed and went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is the second-to-last chapter! thanks for chillin yall


	8. Monday

                Marinette sat in the lunchroom, chatting with Alya. They sat at their usual table next to the window, adjacent to Adrien and Nino’s table. Unfortunately, Adrien’s presence also attracted some less wanted attention.

                “Oh Adrien, you were simply marvelous in class today. That answer was incredible!” Chloe leaned very close to the boy, batting her eyelashes. Marinette rolled her eyes and Alya swiveled around in her seat to see. She pressed her hands to her mouth to suppress a giggle. That awful girl could blow anything out of proportion.

                “Oops, sorry,” said some poor boy, accidentally bumping into Chloe’s elbow.

                “Ugh!” she cried. Then, smirking, she stuck out her heeled foot in the path of the boy who bumped her elbow, causing him to trip and spill his lunch all over his pressed white dress shirt and silk tie. He got up and scurried away, sniffling as Chloe laughed.

                “Chloe, that is so not cool!” said Adrien, standing up.

                “Oh come on, Adrien!” she beseeched. “He was just some nobody.”

                “Wow! Unbelievable,” sneered Adrien. “Come on, Nino, let’s go sit somewhere else.”

                “Yeah man,” replied Nino, gathering his things and following Adrien. Marinette practically had hearts in her eyes as he walked away from Chloe as she called excuses to his back. The poor boy with the stained shirt went to sit down with his ruined lunch, trying his best to hold back tears.

                _You poor young man. All these years, and nobody has ever wanted to sit with you; year after year, you are tripped and humiliated in lunchrooms just like this one. And now your recital is ruined. I could change all that, if you do me a favor in return…_

                “Woah, he was not taking any of her shit today,” said Alya, digging into her lunch. Marinette rested her chin on her hand as she gazed across the cafeteria at Adrien, who was now on the other side.

                “I AM MYSTERY MEAT, AND YOU SHALL ALL FEEL MY WRATH!” a giant lumpy, goopy, dripping monster roared.

                “What the hell!?” yelled Alya. “Come on, Marinette, we should help get everybody out of here to help Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

                “Er, yeah,” said Marinette. She stood on the table and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Everybody get outta here!”

                “Move yer asses, people!” Alya hollered, ushering people out of the cafeteria. Marinette ducked into the kitchen to transform.

                “I’LL SHOW YOU MY PAIN!” called Mystery Meat, dripping all over the floor, shooting gobs of meat across the lunch hall.

                “You’ll need to clean up your act, first!” called the sly voice of Chat Noir. Mystery Meat roared and shot an attack towards the masked superhero, which was easily dodged.

                “I’ll get the mop,” quipped Ladybug in return.

                “My Lady,” said Chat. But he seemed different today. Instead of the typical adoration, the words now carried something a lot heavier. Ladybug’s smile dropped, but there was no time to talk when there was an akuma to fight. Chat scrutinized the monster, then turned to his partner. “The tie, Ladybug!”

                “Gotcha,” said Ladybug. “Lucky Charm!”

                “UARGH!” roared Mystery Meat as Chat aggravated it, a mop falling into Ladybug’s hands.

                “Unbelievable!” yelled Ladybug, to Chat’s glee. “Nothing to say, Noir?”

                “It speaks for itself!” he called, using a lunch tray as a shield. Ladybug looked around the lunchroom, picking out things that could be useful.

                “Chat, I need you to destroy that!” Ladybug called out, pointing to the ornamental column in the center of the cafeteria. Chat winked.

                “Cataclysm!” he called, and scratched the base of the column, causing the whole thing to topple towards the akuma. It staggered backwards.

                “Sorry about this,” Ladybug said, and held out the mop for it to trip over. Once the monster was floored, Chat snatched his tie and tossed it to Ladybug, who tore it in two. “Bye-bye, little butterfly!”

                “Wh—what happened?” said the confused boy in the now-restored lunchroom.

                “Nice work,” the pair said, going for their celebratory fist-bump. But when Ladybug looked into Chat’s eyes, she pulled him aside so the students wouldn’t see them right away as they returned.

                “Chat, are you okay?” she whispered. He gave her a half-hearted smile.

                “Just a little… Well it all boils down to me being an idiot about being Chat. Secret identity kinda stuff,” he said. “But don’t worry, I didn’t tell anybody anything.”

                “Well Chat, you don’t just have to make friends as Chat Noir. You’ve got an alter ego for a reason.”

                “But I just act so different in my civilian form! It’s hopeless. I could never—”

                “Chat, you’re still the same silly kitty cat no matter what you look like. You’re you, and that’s what gets you friends. Don’t worry about trying to win people’s affection by acting a certain way.” Both Ladybug’s earrings and Chat’s ring were beeping like crazy. Ladybug gave him a parting smile. “Good luck, my friend.”

                “Thanks,” Chat said, as they both leapt off in opposite directions.

-

                “Man, it sure was nice of the teachers to give us a little extra lunch time cuz of the attack and everything,” said Alya. “But it’s really too bad I finished my lunch, like, hours ago.”

                “I was there for all that, Alya,” laughed Marinette. She got up to throw away her garbage, and as she reached the trashcan, Adrien also came up to toss away an apple core.

                “Hey Marinette,” he said.

                “Hi Adrien,” she replied.

                “You know there’s that new superhero movie coming out,” began Adrien. “And it’s probably nothing like our town’s own personal heroes, but uh, would you be interested in seeing it this weekend?”

                “Oh,” said Marinette. Adrien was resting his weight on one foot, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. “Y-yeah! That sounds really good, actually!”

                “Great,” Adrien perked up. “I’ll find out when it’s playing and text you.”

                “Cool,” grinned Marinette. The two started to drift apart to head back to their separate tables. “I uh, then. I guess I’ll see you then.”

                “Cool,” Adrien repeated, and, lacking any sophisticated way to end the conversation, gave a little wave as he turned to sit down next to Nino. Marinette went over to Alya, all a-blush.

                “Woah Marinette, what happened on the way to the trashcan?” Alya asked proddingly. Marinette was slightly dazed and confused, but was absolutely beaming.

                “I can’t wait until this weekend, I’ll tell you that,” she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow guys! its finally finished (i actually think the fic takes up more time than what i wrote it in, haha)  
> sorry this last chapter is a lil short, but i intended for it to be more of an epilogue.  
> i really hope you enjoyed it! n3n


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